Christopher Wilson

Christopher Wilson is Deputy Director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where he leads the Institute’s research and programming on regional economic integration and U.S.-Mexico border affairs. He is the author of Working Together: Economic Ties between the United States and Mexico (Wilson Center, 2011) and coauthor of the State of the Border Report (Wilson Center, 2013). Chris has testified before the United States Congress and is regularly consulted by national and international media outlets regarding U.S.-Mexico relations. He has written opinion columns for the Wall Street Journal, Politico, CNN, and Reuters, among others. Chris previously worked as a contractor doing Mexico analysis for the U.S. military and as a researcher at American University’s Center for North American Studies. In Mexico, he worked briefly with the international trade consultancy IQOM, Inteligencia Comercial, and with American students studying regional political and social issues. He completed his M.A. in International Affairs at American University, focusing on U.S. foreign policy and hemispheric relations.

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“The businesses that are affected by security issues are generally the small businesses, the mom-and-pop operations,” says Christopher Wilson, an economist at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Mexico Institute. “If someone is going to try to extort a business, they’re not going after a company like Audi that has layers of protection.” more

If these assumptions hold true, Wilson says, “144,000 new U.S. jobs could be created due to Mexico's economic growth in 2011.” A modest figure, considering America's jobs shortage right now, Wilson concedes. “But that's with everything else being equal,” he explains. “If we don't do anything else to stimulate trade, we can at least count on the growth rate to create jobs.” more

In 2009, the Pacific Council on International Policy and the Mexican Council on Foreign Affairs convened the Binational Task Force on the United States-Mexico Border. The group issued a series of recommendations regarding border management, which were detailed in the report, “Managing the United States-Mexico Border: Cooperative Solutions to Common Challenges.” Now, as border management plays a key role in the debate over immigration reform, the Task Force will reconvene to evaluate progress in managing the U.S.-Mexico border. more

Christopher Wilson, from the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexican Institute, explains that the law, “is something that has been promoted by victim groups,” but “as written, the law could apply to a broad pool of people, and perhaps to those that have not been severely affected.” more

"While places like Ciudad Juarez have become safer, other places in the country have seen violence spike up," said Christopher Wilson, an associate at the Washington-based Mexico Institute. "Acapulco is one of the areas, and in fact, the entire state of Guerrero is one of the places, where there's been more violence recently." more

“Mexico is trying to be careful in terms of how it gets involved in the immigration debate,” said Christopher Wilson of the Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. “It will talk about border security, trans-migration, issues like that, but Mexico will weigh its involvement in immigration very carefully.” more

Christopher Wilson spoke to The Dallas Morning News about Mexico's potential to become a more medical tourism destination for Americans. He said, “Mexico needs to get more hospitals certified by the Joint Commission, address violence and the perception of it, and needs to significantly increase advertising in the United States.” more

“Mexico’s previous administration prodded the U.S. to take stronger action on gun control for years, and Mexico’s new ambassador has continued that pressure,” Christopher Wilson.
• This article also appeared on Chrisroubis.com.
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“It’s a huge, huge buildup,” said Chris Wilson, an analyst at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “We doubled the border patrol in the 1990s. We doubled it again in the first decade of the century. Now we’re considering doubling it again.”

Cynthia Arnson, Eric Olson and Chris Wilson and commented on the Obama’s trip to Mexico and Costa Rica. Their comments were mentioned in this article about the issues that are going to be discussed with Obama’s visit to the region. This was also published in Worldland news.

A close reading of the senators’ framework gives the impression that the next round of strengthening border security might look a lot like previous rounds. That would be a mistake. Staffing and budgets for areas between the ports of entry have doubled since 2004 and are now at a level where even major increases would produce only marginal security gains.

“This type of crime, especially the sensational type, always has a negative effect on tourism,” said Christopher Wilson, a Mexico expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

“Look at the example of drugs and weapons smuggling,” Wilson says. “There are drug demand issues on the U.S. side, but there are weapons demand issues on the Mexican side, where there are also rule-of-law issues and violence. The task force sought ways to share responsibility and work together to confront these interconnected problems.”

The cuts probably won’t dramatically increase crime or significantly compromise border security, said Chris Wilson, an associate with the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, a Washington-based research group. The number of Border Patrol agents has doubled in the last decade, and illegal activity along the border between the ports of entry has fallen.

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The Wilson Center's Mexico Institute, Border Trade Alliance, and the Asociación de Empresarios Mexicanos invite you to our second annual high-level "Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border" conference this year, focusing on improving border management in order to strengthen the competitiveness of both the United States and Mexico.

The Woodrow Wilson Center's Mexico Institute hosted the launch of the report "The U.S.-Mexico Border Economy in Transition." This report is drawn from a series of four U.S.-Mexico Regional Economic Competitiveness Forums in order to engage border region stakeholders in a process to collectively generate a shared vision and policy recommendations to strengthen economic competitiveness.

The Wilson Center's Mexico Institute hosted its Second Annual Mexican Security Review, The State of Citizen Security in Mexico: 2014 in Review and the Year Ahead. The forum provided a careful examination of security challenges in Mexico, featuring presentations from leading policy analysts. Of particular interest were the available indicators of crime trends, analysis of the specific policy measures of the Peña Nieto administration, and the efforts of civil society to confront recent security problems in Mexico.

The Woodrow Wilson Center's Mexico Institute hosted Enrique Jacob Rocha, the first director of Mexico's new National Entrepreneurship Institute (INADEM), to discuss the state of innovation and entrepreneurship in Mexico as well as the activities being undertaken by the government to foment them. His presentation was followed by commentary from Alberto Saracho, Executive Director of Fundación Idea.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto will host President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper for the North American Leaders Summit on February 19. On the eve of the summit, the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute and Canada Institute will host a discussion of the key issues facing the region.

Francisco Guerrero, Electoral Councilor of the Federal Electoral Institute of Mexico (IFE), will present his book, The Vote of Mexicans Abroad: History, Reflections, and a Look toward the Future. Dr. Guerrero will also speak about current proposals for a political reform in Mexico and the evolving electoral system.

On July 23, 2013, speakers will present the main findings of the Global Development Horizons report, which explores patterns of investment, saving and capital flows as they are likely to evolve over the course of the next two decades. Experts from the Wilson Center will discuss how these economic patterns will affect various developing countries and regions.

As the United States and the European Union begin the negotiation of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, please join us for a conference to examine the challenges and opportunities of including Canada and Mexico in the agreement.

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On December 9, 2013, Christopher Wilson testified in front of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs,Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, addressing the issue of U.S.-Mexico trade and border management. His testimony focused on the development of a multifaceted approach to border management that promotes security, trade and competitiveness, and a high quality of life for those living in the border region.

Testifying at an ad-hoc hearing in front of Border Caucus members Rep. Grijalva, Rep. Vela, and Rep. O'Rourke, Mexico Institute Associate Christopher Wilson addressed the important issue of U.S.-Mexico trade in the context of the current immigration reform debate.

As the debate over immigration reform has brought the management of the U.S.-Mexico border back into the spotlight, this report provides a comprehensive look at the state of affairs in the management of the U.S.-Mexico border and the border region, focusing on four core areas: trade and competitiveness, security, sustainability, and quality of life. The report suggests that rather than consider each issue individually, the interdependent nature of topics like trade and security demand the border be approached from a more holistic perspective.

The depth of economic ties with Mexico, together with declines in illegal immigration and organized crime violence in Mexico, open up an opportunity for U.S. policymakers to deepen the economic relationship with Mexico and to engage Mexico more on major global issues.

More than a billion dollars of goods are traded across the US-Mexico border each day. With so much commerce, efficient and secure border management is essential to promote the competitiveness of the US and Mexico. This report identifies strategies to meet this challenge.

The report looks at the ways in which regional economic cooperation can enhance competitiveness, stimulate growth and create jobs. There is no doubt that the economies of the United States and Mexico are facing serious challenges. While some of the risk is due to external pressures, whether increasing competition from Asia or fears of crisis in Europe, much of the solution lies in strengthening regional competitiveness. The path forward, then, must be based in a clear understanding that the United States and Mexico are ultimately partners rather than competitors.

As organized crime‐related violence has increased in northern Mexico, so has the heated rhetoric regarding the U.S. side of the border. The title of National Geographic’s program, Border Wars, exemplifies the sentiment, echoed by several politicians, that the border region is lawless and dangerous. For residents of the U.S. border region, thankfully, the reality is anything but that.

An overview of Mexico's Politics, Economy, and Society and an assessment of key issues in U.S.-Mexico Relations with particular focus on economic integration, security cooperation, migration, and the U.S.-Mexico border.

David Rusk, a former mayor of Albuquerque, joins us for a look at his book, “Cities without Suburbs.” Blair Ruble joins the discussion. Christopher Wilson discusses the newly released “The State of the Border Report."